Eligibility to vote

When completing your Electoral Registration form remember to include the names of all those living in your household who are eligible to vote. Eligible persons are :

British Citizens

Citizens of the Irish Republic

Qualifying Commonwealth Citizens

Citizens of other Member States of the European Union

Qualifying Commonwealth Countries and British Overseas Territories

All residents from any of the following Countries MUST register.

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

The Bahamas

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belize

Botswana

Britain

Brunei Darussalam

Cameroon

Canada

Cyprus

Dominica

Fiji Islands

The Gambia

Ghana

Grenada

Guyana

India

Jamaica

Kenya

Kiribati

Lesotho

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Malta

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Nauru

New Zealand

Nigeria

Pakistan

Papua New Guinea

Rwanda

Saint Kitts & Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Sri Lanka

Swaziland

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tuvalu

Uganda

United Republic of Tanzania

United Kingdom

Vanuata

Zambia

Zimbabwe

British Overseas Territories

Anguila

Bermuda

British Antartic Territory

British Indian Ocean Territory

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Falkland Islands

Gibraltar

Monserrat

The Pitcairn Islands

St Helena and Dependencies (Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands)

Turks and Caicos Islands (This is not Turkey)

Member States of the European Union

Citizens of the following member states of the European Union must register as electors, but will be registered as local government electors only (unless they are also Commonwealth citizens such as citizens of Cyprus and Malta, or citizens of the Irish Republic, who can vote in all elections). This means that Citizens of Member States of the European Union can vote at elections held for the Welsh Assembly Government, County and Community Councils but not at UK Parliamentary Elections. When it comes to the European Parliamentary election these Citizens can apply to vote for their address within the County rather than from their Member State.

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Republic of Ireland

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Hong Kong

Following its transfer to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was deleted from the list of British Overseas Territories. As a result, former residents of Hong Kong are not qualifying Commonwealth citizens by virtue of their residency in Hong Kong as Hong Kong Chinese is no longer a nationality.

If an elector declares their nationality to be Hong Kong Chinese then the Electoral Registration Officer should exercise their powers to require evidence of the elector’s actual nationality and confirm the type of passport that they hold.

Any previous resident of Hong Kong who holds a British Dependent Territories, British Nationals (Overseas) or British Overseas passport meets the nationality criteria for all elections in the UK.

Any previous resident of Hong Kong who only has a Chinese Special Administrative Region passport is Chinese and may not register.